Electronic payments may be performed in a variety of ways. A payment terminal may process payment transactions, and may interact with payment devices such as a payment card having a magnetic strip that is swiped in a magnetic reader of the payment terminal, a payment device having a Europay/Mastercard/Visa (EMV) chip that is inserted into corresponding EMV slot of the payment terminal, and near field communication (NFC) enabled devices such as a smart phone or EMV card that is tapped at the payment terminal and transmits payment information over a secure wireless connection. The payment terminal may receive payment information from the payment device as well information about a transaction, and may communicate this information to a payment system for processing of the transaction.
In order to process the electronic payments received at the payment terminal, the payment terminal can include a transaction chip that interacts with the payment devices to exchange and generate the payment information and transaction information that is provided to the payment system. To keep critical information such as card numbers, PINs, encryption keys, passcodes, user information, transaction information, and other sensitive information secure, the payment reader (the devices that receive the payment information from the payment devices) can be connected directly to the transaction chip such that the payment information is only visible to the transaction chip. Before any information is forwarded to other devices or a payment system, the information may be encrypted by the payment device or by encryption algorithms and keys that are resident at the payment reader.
Many merchants are interested in using mobile payment terminals (i.e., payment terminals that can be moved from place to place while remaining operational to process payment transactions) for the convenience of their customers or their own convenience. For example, some merchants may travel to perform services in a manner such that a large and dedicated payment terminal, or a proliferation of smaller devices, may be tedious or uncomfortable.